On 28 February 1933 the Senate of the Republic of Poland adopted a resolution calling on the government to demand mandates in the colonies. In 1936 Poland’s foreign minister, Józef Beck, read a statement at a League of Nations session demanding that the mandate commission (i.e., territories taken from Germany and the Ottoman Empire) be expanded so that all interested nations could receive their share of colonies. Poland’s “Colonial Theses” were published.
Poland demanded territories in Africa on the basis that Polish lands comprised 10% of the territory of the German Empire and therefore Poland had a right to 10% of the former German colonies. Official claims were presented to the League of Nations for Togo and Cameroon, and proposals were also considered to transfer part of Portuguese East Africa to Poland (on the grounds that Portugal had been given part of German East Africa — the so‑called “Kionga Triangle”).
In early 1937 Józef Beck declared before the Sejm that
“for Poland the questions of population emigration and access to raw materials are of great importance, and the old system of resolving so‑called colonial questions can no longer satisfy it.”
In 1937, under the patronage of influential figures (such as President Ignacy Mościcki, Marshal Edward Śmigły‑Rydz, and Primate August Hlond), a “Sea Week” was held. From 1938 the Maritime and Colonial League also organized “Colonial Days.” Interestingly, the Colonial Days program included trips by League members to Italy to exchange experiences with their Italian counterparts. Despite such activity in Poland, the world public paid little attention to Polish demands.
*The League of Nations ignored all of Poland’s claims.
https://i.redd.it/zixxqyqlnvpf1.png
Posted by EstablishmentLow2312
5 Comments
They were very silly people and all their attempts at colonisation were extremely goofy. I recommend reading about it
It was a byproduct of a Polish superiority complex. The even tried to establish a colonial outpost in Liberia but failed miserably. [https://ciekawostkihistoryczne.pl/2011/06/04/polski-imperializm-liberia-i-emaliowane-nocniki/](https://ciekawostkihistoryczne.pl/2011/06/04/polski-imperializm-liberia-i-emaliowane-nocniki/)
There’s also one little detail that might be interesting for people from r/krakow . The building in the background is Fenix, a quite famous building at the Main Square before it was rebuilt by the Germans during WWII
[https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budynek_Feniksa_w_Krakowie_(Rynek_G%C5%82%C3%B3wny)](https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budynek_Feniksa_w_Krakowie_(Rynek_G%C5%82%C3%B3wny))
Check out the documentary: https://youtu.be/zS6hQ5e2iAA?feature=shared
That was some delusional pipe dream of few guys. As good as if we now campaign for some parcels on Mars.
“Afryka – żródło surówki” is an interesting slogan, brought to us by two hats